Withinsight

"Doctor doctor, will I die?"
"Yes my child... and so will I."
(anon)
It's true for you and me too. Meanwhile, let's find some meaning for ourselves, enjoy the beauty and do things that won't leave a mess for our kids and their kids.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Noon today, from the patio...

It's still winter, but spring is in the air. It comes quickly in this valley, once it hits, with buds bursting into leaves, flowers poking their noses out of the cold earth, birds returning to madly nest and mate, and the streets of Nelson fill up with people smiling.

Okay, that's my take - my friends who ski or board are already smiling and they will be racing along in brilliant warm sun today. Our ski hill is about 45 minute out of town - those of you who ski should look at these photos of Whitewater. I'll take reservations!

Okay, a question for you.Everything that begins, has an ending. Everything with a birth has a death. (That's just to set the oh-so-serious stage for the question...)

Now the question: Where do you find inspiration or motivation in your life?

Saturday, February 16, 2008

How Canadian!

Love manytrust fewand always paddle your own canoe

Some of you know that I won a canoe in an SPCA raffle. There are two things you don't know. The first is that I bought the ticket from the booth at the hockey rink simply to say hello and introduce myself to one of the woman selling them (a natural and friendly thing to do, resulting in a new canoe). The second is that I haven't paddled yet because it's been too cold and if I fall in the lake I'll be a humansicle...so the canoe is parked right outside my bedroom, where I can see it and dream. I may paddle along the shore if the sun stays out today...

This morning I went out to say good morning to Canoe and noticed that someone had been poking around looking at it last night. How did I know that? By the prints in the snow. And it's someone who is very unlikely to ever go paddling with me.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

It's grey and cold - time for Python...

Okay, some un-named blogging friends have been making fun of Canadians (go here). I say it's nothing more than health-care envy or perhaps it's an unfulfilled longing to be a lumberjack. Eric Idle - 'take it away!' (live at the Hollywood Bowl)

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Canadian humour 101

Some say Canadian humour is rich because we have the yuk-it-up American humour on one side - the put-down humour, scatalogical, sophmoric humour and the sometimes brilliant humour such as Mark Twain or George Carlin. And then we have the British piece hovering over our shoulders... with the reserved self mockery, wacky tangential skits and bending of gender, class and anything else stuck in the mud. Think Monty Python and these days (google away), think THE MIGHTY BOOSH.

So you get a list that includes people like Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Foley, Samantha Bee, John Candy, Norm Macdonald, Leslie Nielsen, Michael J. Fox, Tom Green and Dan Aykroyd. Even Lorne Michaels, Saturday Night Live producer... yup, Canadian. And then there's SCTV, Kids in the Hall and more. Jeez, even William Shatner's Canadian - and that guy is funny.

This post isn't funny is it? Okay we also have a guy named Rick Mercer, with a weekly show where he makes us laugh, while skewering any sacred cows or tofu which may be left standing. Here's a taste of Rick's Rant, a weekly segment on his show. (Thanks to Beth for reminding me to check in on Rick again.)

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Hey, no complaining down there my Yankee friends!

The primaries are interesting. Some might say it's a football game with 18 quarters or a baseball game with 31 innings or such, but I say Americans are fortunate in that they get to watch these candidates speak, squirm, defend, explain and work their butts off - and actually get to know something about them. Up here in reasonable and oh-so-nice Canuckland our political parties do it all in a relatively closed process that most of us watch the final few hours of on television (if that). We have boring white guys in suits, with the exception of Elizabeth May, our Green Party leader, who I'm hoping to see elected.

I'm as cynical as the next humanoid, but I'm feeling some hope in the Land of the Free (or at least the lowest price possible). If I was living there, I think I'd hitch my horse to someone (Obama probably) and get to work. There is hope in the air as well as hype.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Striking a blow for hope....

Our local Amnesty International group just completed our annual Filmfest. We screen documentaries from around the world, that focus in some way on issues related to human rights. Some of them are pretty grim because they expose the depth of 'human wrongs'. Last night we saw a film that I would rate as one of the best I've seen this year (all genres). It was War Dance and is up for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Check out the website and by all means, see it if you can. With this admitedly receptive audience there were tears, laughter, cheers and applause, and solemn silence...

About Me

I live in Nelson BC Canada. I have one lovely Anna, two adult kids (in New York and Montreal), a small house in downtown Nelson, an interesting career as a consultant and lots of other interests, including working for human rights (through Amnesty International and Peace Brigades International mainly).